To ask the Leader of the House what steps she is taking to ensure that parliamentary
business can continue in the event of movement restrictions to prevent the spread
of COVID-19.
<p>The Government has undertaken detailed work on COVID-19 with four strands: contain,
delay, research and mitigate. Should there be a need to implement restrictions on
movement then the Government, in consultation with the Usual Channels, will update
the House on the next steps in relation to parliamentary business if there is a need
to do so. While COVID-19 has the potential to spread extensively there is no reason
to change parliamentary business at this stage. The Government is monitoring the situation
closely and providing regular updates to parliament and the general public.</p>
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Sugg on 6 February
(HL Deb, col 1885), how many claims for asylum have been made by (1) women and girls
at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), and (2) anti-FGM campaigners, in each
of the last 10 years; and how many such claims (a) have been accepted, (b) have been
rejected, and (c) are awaiting a decision.
<p>The Home Office does not record the basis of claims in a way that can be easily
aggregated so cannot provide figures on how many asylum claims have been made by (1)
women and girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), and (2) anti-FGM campaigners,
in each of the last 10 years; and how many such claims (a) have been accepted, (b)
have been rejected, and (c) are awaiting a decision.</p><p>However, the Home Office
does publish data on the number of cases concluded by gender. This data can be found
at Asy_05/06/06q/07, of the published Transparency data: August 2019: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2019"
target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-august-2019</a></p>
